Paradise Ranch (Jack and Ashley detective series Book 2) Read online

  “Oh, about a week ago,” Laura replied, taking a bite of green beans.

  “Any idea what she was doing out after curfew?” Ashley asked, her question bringing a snicker from the women.

  “Oh, I have a guess,” the older woman giggled. “I’d say it had something to do with … Earl.”

  “Earl?” Ashley asked. “The same Earl that …”

  “There’s only one Earl,” Laura interrupted. “I think Carol was sweet on him. I mean, I guess that was okay. They were both single and all.”

  “But it wasn’t okay that they were out together after curfew,” a short-haired woman next to Ashley snapped.

  “True,” Laura agreed. “It’s okay to be friendly, just not after curfew. Plus, making it doubly bad, she was out of her quad.”

  “Her quad?” Ashley wondered.

  “Yes. Paradise is set up on a quad system,” it was explained. “Right now, we’re in downtown. “Me and Laura, we live in the east section. That’s just for single ladies.”

  “If you go straight over to the north section, that’s the married couples,” Laura pointed out. “The west section, that’s for the single men.”

  “As far as the east is from the west,” Ashley whispered to herself. “What about the south? What’s there?”

  “Oh, that’s where the disciples live,” the short-haired woman noted. “You have to be part of the men’s council to live there. It’s over near the factory.”

  Ashley considered the quad system in her head, remembering the layout from her earlier tour.

  “So, you say Carol and Earl were friendly?” Ashley said, leading the conversation back to the victim.

  “Was it romantic?”

  Laura leaned in; looking around to make sure no one was listening from the other tables. “What do you think goes on when a man and a woman sneak out to be alone together?”

  “Don’t they allow dating?” Ashley asked.

  “Under Elijah’s consent and provided they are chaperoned,” Laura revealed.

  “It’s to prevent fornication,” the blonde said in a serious tone. “Fornication is a sin and all sin is prohibited in Paradise. This is consecrated ground.”

  “Yes, temptation leads to sin,” Laura agreed. “A man and a woman, alone; that’s too much temptation.”

  “Let’s say someone is weak and gives in to temptation,” Ashley queried. “Maybe they commit fornication. What happens then?”

  The ladies looked at one another. “Banishment from Paradise,” Laura said with a look of fear in her eyes.

  Ashley resolved to talk to Earl again before leaving the ranch. He wasn’t in the dining hall, which suggested he was likely out on patrol outside.

  “Tell me about this disciples section, I mean where the disciples live,” Ashley changed the subject. “Do you get to go there?”

  The older woman shook her head. “No. Not even in daylight hours,” she revealed. “It’s forbidden. You have to be summoned to go there.

  “You can go anywhere in Paradise except to the south quad.”

  “The forbidden fruit,” Ashley muttered to herself.

  “It’s for Elijah and his twelve disciples,” Laura clarified.

  “Twelve disciples, huh?” Ashley scoffed.

  “Yes,” the blonde assured. “There must always be twelve. It’s scriptural, you know.”

  “One of the disciples passed away last month and Elijah replaced him the next day,” Laura noted.

  “It was Earl,” the short-haired woman interjected. “They made him the twelfth disciple but after the inci-dent with Carol, well, I guess he has to do penance to make up for his indiscretion. That’s why he is on duty outside and not allowed to eat with the rest of us. Elijah says the disciples should lead by example. There’s no place for disobedience in Paradise.”

  Earl’s name had come up one too many times to just be coincidence. Ashley’s suspicions were piqued.

  Ashley continued talking with her dining companions for the rest of supper. Jack, who had also been busy making conversation with the elder council – or disciples, as they were referred to - gave her a nod that it was time to go as the dishes were being taken up.

  “I appreciate you coming here to see our community first-hand,” Elijah told both of them as they walked from the dining hall toward their vehicle. “There are so many lies and half-truths being passed around. Nothing replaces seeing things with your own eyes.”

  “I agree,” Jack replied just as Ashley saw Earl standing across the way.

  “Believe it or not, I’m feeling kind of bad about how I treated your security guy,” Ashley spoke up. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to run over and tell him there are no hard feelings.”

  “I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” Elijah smiled. “That’s very kind of you, Agent Reynolds.”

  Earl straightened up as he saw Ashley boldly walk-ing toward him.

  “No more rough stuff,” Earl held up his hands and took a step back.

  “What was your relationship with Carol?” Ashley cut to the chase, knowing she only had a few seconds before raising suspicions.

  “What do you mean?” Earl asked, his face immediately turning red.

  “I mean, you two were an item,” Ashley said as she stood face to face with Earl.

  “Where did you hear that?” Earl shot back.

  “Don’t worry about where I heard it,” Ashley continued. “I know you two were caught out after curfew and I know you were just made an elder, or disciple or whatever you call it here. In my book, that could be a motive.”

  “For what? Murder?” Earl asked as he nervously looked over her shoulder toward Elijah, trying to keep his voice down. “I’m not a killer. I would never hurt her. You’ve got it all wrong. You better check your notes.”

  “How do I know that you …” Ashley began.

  “That’s all I can say,” Earl said as he walked away.

  Ashley fought her temptation to pursue him. He definitely knew more than what he was revealing. As to whether that knowledge extended to Carol’s death, she was unsure.

  “Let’s get out of here, Agent,” Jack called out. “We’ve got a stop to make and daylight is burning.”

  Elijah walked the couple to their SUV, closing the door behind Jack. “I want you two to consider your-selves with an open invitation to Paradise,” Elijah said. “You come back anytime you want, day or night. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask. We will help you in any way possible. She was one of ours.”

  Jack and Elijah locked eyes for a moment as Jack sat behind the wheel. Elijah leaned in through the window.

  “What you’re looking for is on the other side of the hill,” Elijah said in a quiet voice, inches from Jack’s ear, nodding in the direction of New Hope. “Things aren’t as they seem over there.”

  “Really?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t trust the sheriff,” Elijah declared as he stepped back from Jack’s open window. “If you doubt me, ask someone about Leland Whitaker.”

  “What about Leland Whitaker?” Jack asked. “Who is that?”

  “It’s not my place to say. I stay on my side of the hill and mind my own business,” Elijah replied. “Ask any-one in New Hope. They all know. The question is whether they’ll tell you.”

  “Why wouldn’t they …” Jack began.

  “Fear,” Elijah interrupted. “There’s fear in New Hope. But here … there’s only love.”

  Jack and Elijah kept their eyes locked for another few seconds before Jack turned the key in the ignition.

  “Come back and see us real soon, Agents,” Elijah invited as he raised his hand to say goodbye.

  “I’m sure this won’t be the last time we’ll see each other,” Jack stated as he pulled away.

  Jack wasted no time heading back to the gate, which the guards opened without him having to pause. He gave them a wave as he drove out.

  “Well?” Ashley asked, breaking the silence as they drove through the arc
hes of Paradise Ranch. “What do you think?”

  “Oh, I have no doubt our buddy Elijah had some-thing to do with her death,” Jack confidently revealed, unmoved by Elijah’s parting words. “People like him don’t get their hands dirty. They have someone else do their wet work.”

  Ashley shook her head.

  “What about you?” Jack asked. “Did you get any-thing from the hen session at supper?”

  Ashley gave Jack a sharp look. “It seems there was a thing between our victim and good ol’ Earl.”

  “Enough for motive?” Jack said, taking his eyes off the road to look at Ashley.

  “I’m not sure,” Ashley replied, pushing his face and putting his eyes back on the road. “He seemed scared during our short conversation right before we left. Now, whether he was scared out of guilt or scared of Elijah, I don’t know.”

  Ashley sat deep in thought for a moment. “What about what Elijah said about the sheriff?”

  “Well, I guess we should ask someone about Leland Whitaker, whoever he is,” Jack noted. “He threw his name out there for a reason. Hey, no stone unturned.”

  Jack pushed the button on the GPS. “We’re going to make a short stop on the way back,” Jack declared as he scanned for a turn off from the main road. “I think we’ve got just enough daylight to check out where they found our victim. We can kill two birds with one stone.”

  Jack turned on a crude dirt road as the sunset gave off a golden hue. They traveled for several minutes, the road becoming less and less of a road with each mile. Fluttering yellow tape still marked the scene where the remains of Carol Parker had been found. Jack stopped the truck and the pair climbed out. They were greeted by a strong wind, dust immediately stinging Ashley’s eyes. She could see a dark cloud on the horizon, or was it night falling? It was hard to tell in the waning day-light. Regardless, the breeze brought some relief to the unrelenting desert heat.

  “I can tell you one thing for sure,” Jack began. “She didn’t walk this far.”

  “And there’s no water anywhere near,” Ashley not-ed. “It’d be hard to drown out here.”

  They began walking the perimeter of the crime scene, looking for anything local authorities may have missed. Ashley fanned out further from the vehicle, stepping atop a slight rise.

  “What’s that?” Ashley called out, pointing several yards away from their location.

  Jack walked over to his partner and followed where her finger was pointing.

  “That’s odd,” Jack admitted as he looked at the large spherical outline on the ground that Ashley had found. “It doesn’t look to be naturally occurring.”

  “It looks like a crop circle,” Ashley said with a slight laugh as she looked at the round pattern on the ground that appeared to be some thirty feet in circumference. “I mean, I’m not saying there was an alien landing here, but it sure has an otherworldly look.”

  “Or, it could be nothing,” Jack said as he walked over to the outline on the ground.

  Jack took a minute to survey the unusual mark, try-ing to get his head around what could have made such an imprint.

  “Well, let’s get some pictures anyway. Just in case,” Jack said as he bent down to study the unusual pattern.

  Not getting an answer from Ashley, Jack continued. “Hey, honey, get the camera.”

  “Um, Jack,” Ashley said in a worried voice, keeping her eyes trained on the horizon.

  Jack looked up and saw the source of his partner’s consternation. A couple of trucks had topped the rise near where they were. Several men were in the trucks, some in the cabs and others in the beds of the vehicles. If that wasn’t enough for alarm, the men were all masked and armed!

  “Okay, sweetness, let’s get back to the vehicle,” Jack said as he scurried back the SUV.

  “Who are they?” Ashley asked as she jumped into the vehicle.

  “I don’t know but I’m not keen on hanging around to find out,” Jack said. “They’ve got us outgunned.”

  Jack floored the SUV and headed cross country. The two pickup trucks gave pursuit. Jack glanced nervously in the rear view as the vehicles gained.

  “This isn’t good, Ashley,” Jack admitted.

  “I hate when you call me by name,” Ashley gulped. “That always means something bad is about to happen.”

  One of the vehicles came up hard while the second shadowed them.

  It appeared they were about to force Jack to stop using a rolling roadblock with one truck in front and the other behind.

  “Get out your gun,” Jack ordered.

  “What for?” Ashley nervously responded.

  “To shoot,” Jack replied. “I don’t think this is a social call.”

  Even as Jack gave out the order, the pair was thrown forward as the pursuing pickup slammed into their rear.

  “Get on the radio and …” Jack said but was cut off by another hard hit.

  The SUV went airborne as they topped a hill at a high speed, the pair’s heads bouncing off the roof of the vehicle as it slammed back to the ground.

  Ashley grabbed the handset and was about to call for help when the pickup slammed into their back quarter panel. The impact came just as they went airborne from another hill. The combination sent them flying, the top-heavy SUV rolling several times on the dusty prairie ground.

  The next thing Ashley knew they were hanging up-side down in their seats, their seatbelts holding them in place as dust filled the passenger compartment.

  “Are you okay?” Jack asked as he wrestled with his seatbelt.

  Shaking off the cobwebs from hitting her head on the top of the vehicle, Ashley responded. “I think so.”

  The next instant Jack was falling onto the roof of the overturned SUV.

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” he yelled as he reached over and clawed at the clasp on Ashley’s seat belt.

  From her bat-like vantage point she could see a vehicle approach. The armed men were coming back!

  “You could help me a little bit!” Jack yelled as he fought the clasp.

  Ashley hooked her hand under her shoulder and joined the fight. She finally found the release and clicked it. The next instant she fell on her head with a thud, hitting the roof of the vehicle.

  “Now, get out!” Jack yelled. “Hurry! Your side! Take cover!”

  Ashley wiggled out the open passenger-side window with Jack right behind her. She could hear the approach of the vehicles as they traveled down the hill toward the wreckage. Her attempt at standing ended with her falling on her backside, her time hanging upside down and landing on her head had messed up her sense of balance. Meanwhile, Jack was at the ready. He emerged from behind the cover of the police vehicle with gun ready.

  “What are you doing?” Ashley asked as she looked up to see Jack leaned against the overturned SUV in a shooting position.

  “About to start a gun fight,” Jack answered as he opened fire before Ashley could get to her feet.

  She instinctively grabbed her gun from her hip and pressed her back up against the side of the vehicle. She was about pop up and join her partner in the fight when she stopped fast. In the meantime, Jack continued squeezing off rounds in the direction of the trucks that had stopped about fifty yards downrange.

  Jack had fired off an entire clip, filling the closest pickup with bullet holes before he noticed the heavily armed men in the trucks were not returning fire. In-stead, after shortly taking cover behind their vehicles from Jack’s barrage, they were piling back into the pickups and leaving.

  “That’s right!” Jack yelled as he jammed a fresh clip into his forty-caliber. “You don’t want to mess with Jack Looper!”

  The pickup trucks threw up plumes of dust as they accelerated up the rise and out of sight.

  “Did you see them run?” Jack asked with pride as he looked down at his partner who was still leaned up against the side of the truck with her gun in hand. “I guess they weren’t expecting such a cool reception.”

  “I don’t think the
y were running from you,” Ashley declared with her eyes looking the opposite direction from where the one-way gunfight had just happened.

  “Then what were they running from, doll?” Jack asked.

  “That!” Ashley said as she pointed behind him.

  Jack turned to see a tsunami coming toward them except the tsunami in this case wasn’t water. What was left of the sun disappeared as the cloud of dust blocked it out like a giant black curtain. It wasn’t a storm cloud or the setting sun Ashley had seen before, it was a dust storm.

  “Haboob!” Ashley yelled.

  “What?” her partner asked, his eyes wide as he watched the approaching monster.

  “Dust storm!” Ashley yelled as the dark cloud en-gulfed them. “Quick! Into the truck!”

  The pair dove back into the wreckage as the dark cloud slammed into them, plunging them into darkness within seconds.

  “Cover your face with something!” Ashley shouted over the sound of the rushing wind and debris slamming into the overturned vehicle.

  Sand and dirt poured through the open window of the overturned SUV as the two huddled in their make-shift refuge.

  “Where did that come from?” Jack choked out as the dust clogged his mouth, triggering a hacking cough.

  “What?” Ashley yelled back, trying to shout over the deafening howl of the wind.

  “The storm?” Jack coughed as he tried to make him-self heard. “Where did it come from?”

  “Shut your mouth!” Ashley barked with her shirt pulled up over her mouth to filter out some of the debris. “Cover your face with something!”

  Jack opened his mouth to respond but mustered only another hacking cough before pulling his shirt up over his mouth and taking his partner’s advice.

  What followed was the first full five minutes of silence Ashley could ever remember enjoying in the company of Jack since they first met a half-year before. It took a colossal sand storm to accomplish the feat. All she could hear was dust whipping against their wrecked vehicle, swept along by the hurricane-strength wind.

  The storm passed as quick as it hit, heading toward where the gunmen had disappeared, likely chasing them further away from the now marooned officers. The pair crawled from the open window, finding the overturned truck partially covered beneath the shifting sand.